improvfandomcom-20200215-history
Secret Hospital
Secret Hospital is a NYC-based sketch comedy group. They perform all over the city, but primarily put up their shows at The Peoples Improv Theatre. The current cast members, all of whom write and perform the sketches, are Michael Hartney, Rachel Korowitz, Dan McInerney and Jeff Scherer. History The original cast of Secret Hospital was assembled by Stan Laikowski and Patrick Inglis in December 2006, and also featured Michael Hartney, Rachel Korowitz, Dan McInerney, Jeff Scherer and Ashley Ward. Laikowski and Korowitz had been performing together in the three-person improv team Evel Cathedral and as founders and hosts of the long-running variety show Ash Wednesday, in which all the founding Secret Hospital cast members had performed in various groups. Secret Hospital debuted at The Peoples Improv Theatre in June 2007 with Series Premiere. The show enjoyed packed houses and they reprised the run in August. Nearly every member of the group had a sketch featured in the show, and there were several video pieces. At the end of that run, Ward left the group. In November 2007, Secret Hospital performed a Spank show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, combining sketches from Series Premiere with new sketches. Laikowski left the group shortly after. The five-person group began work on their new show, Blood & Sparkles, which ran at the PIT in February and March 2008. Patrick left soon after. The now-foursome of Hartney, Korowitz, McInerney and Scherer invited Rory Scholl and Ann Scobie to join the group for their June show, Live From Budapest. (Rory and Ann performed with Jeff and Rachel in the Chicago City Limits touring company.) Scholl and Scobie worked tremendously well together and contributed several sketches to the show. This line-up, however was short-lived. By their performance of This One's for the Gays that same month, Secret Hospital was back down to four members. McInerney was also increasingly busy with his job editing spots for network television, and in August 2008, Hartney, Korowitz and Scherer put up a three-person show at The Peoples Improv Theater, The Dinner Table. Secret Hospital's first conceptual show was Hartney's idea, a series of sketches all taking place at a table situated in mid-stage and featuring an interlocked set of characters and situations. The show was a success, but the group was glad to welcome Dan back into the fold once the Olympics were over and his schedule became more flexible. In September 2008, Hartney and Scherer both took part in National Sketch Writing Month, a writing exercise in which participants attempted to write 30 sketches in 30 days. Only Hartney succeeded, but together they wrote 45 sketches, giving them a good head start for the next show. Shows * Series Premiere (June 2007) * Blood & Sparkles (February 2008) * Live From Budapest (June 2008) * This One's for the Gays (June 2008) * The Dinner Table (August 2008) Guest Appearances * MC3 Sketch Night, Manhattan Comedy Collective * Spank, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre * POP!, fundraiser for At Hand Theatre Company * Sketchubator NYC, The Peoples Improv Theatre * Sketchprov, The Peoples Improv Theatre * New Jacks, Comix Online Videos * Never Shake a Baby * Hitler Sketch * The C-word Sketch * The Caricature Artist * Science Feast * Obama's Limo Sex & Drug Party Web site http://www.secrethospital.com/ Category:Sketch Groups Category:New York City